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An exclusive performance of Gitmo Jihad Theater opened over the weekend. What happened underscores why these military tribunals never, ever belonged in the civilian court system that Obama/Holder had pushed for (until running into the common-sense public opposition buzzsaw).

Lee Hanson became deeply angry as the self-proclaimed mastermind of the Sept. 11 attacks and co-defendants tried to undermine their arraignment on 3,000 counts of murder at a military court in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Hanson’s son, daughter-in-law and 2-year-old granddaughter, the youngest 9/11 victim, were killed in the terror attacks over a decade ago. All were aboard United Flight 175, the second plane to crash into the twin towers.

When it comes to justice, “it seems like it’s an afterthought,” said his wife, Eunice Hanson.

Moans, sighs and exclamations erupted Saturday as Hanson and other relatives of Sept. 11 victims watched the closed-circuit TV feed of the court hearing from a movie theater at Fort Hamilton in New York City. It was one of four U.S. military bases where the arraignment was broadcast live for victims’ family members, survivors and emergency personnel who responded to the attacks.

“It’s actually a joke, it feels ridiculous,” said Jim Riches, whose firefighter son, Jimmy, died at the World Trade Center. “It looks like it’s going to be a very long trial.”

Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and the other defendants were arraigned on charges that include terrorism and murder, the first time in more than three years that they appeared in public. During the hearing, they generally refused to cooperate. At one point, one detainee leafed through a copy of The Economist magazine, then passed it to another. At other times, the defendants knelt in prayer.

One of the defense attorneys insisted on sharia law for all women in the courtroom:

The defense attorney who wore a traditional Islamic outfit during the rowdy arraignment of the accused Sept. 11 terrorists is defending her courtroom appeal that other women in the room wear more “appropriate” clothing to the proceedings — out of respect for her client’s Muslim beliefs.

Cheryl Bormann, counsel for defendant Walid bin Attash, attended the arraignment Saturday dressed in a hijab, apparently because her client insisted on it. She further requested that the court order other women to follow that example so that the defendants do not have to avert their eyes “for fear of committing a sin under their faith.”

At a press conference Sunday at Guantanamo Bay, Bormann said she dresses in a hijab at “all times” when she meets with her client “out of respect” for his beliefs. Asked why she requested other women do the same, Bormann said, “When you’re on trial for your life, you need to be focused.”

Bormann, who is not Muslim, claimed the issue came up several years ago, when a paralegal wore “very short skirts” and it became a distraction for the defendants. She said that on Saturday, “somebody” was also dressed “in a way that was not in keeping with my client’s religious beliefs.”

“If because of someone’s religious beliefs, they can’t focus when somebody in the courtroom is dressed in a particular way, I feel it is incumbent upon myself as a counsel to point that out and ask for some consideration from the prosecution,” she said. “Suffice to say it was distracting to members of the accused.”

11:39am: Ok, burka woman is back and she’s asking that all women in the courtroom be forced by the court to “dress appropriately” so the defendants won’t commit sins. She even got chuckles from the media-types here at Fort Meade and exclamations from the women in this room of “Oh, my God”.

11:45 am: KSM’s attorney is asking for a list of names of the people who are sitting on the prosecutor’s side of the room because “if there are some shadowy people” it would upset his client.

12:00; Walid Salih just interrupted the proceedings yammering something about how the Americans are just intent on killing the defendants like we did Qaddafi. So the judge told him to behave and, surprisingly, he did.

12:25 PM; Yeah, all of the lawyers are introducing themselves to Judge Pohl and their qualifications so they can root out any “shadowy figures”. Just so you know each of the five defendants have two military and a civilian lawyer – so that’s fifteen people right there introducing themselves to the judge. So this is just useless time wasting bullshit by the defense team.

…4:42 PM: I just talked with a family member of a victim who said “The terrorists are better behaved than their lawyers” He went on to say this illustrates why they fought so hard to keep the trial out of the federal courts because of the circus the lawyers have made out of it so for. One of our handlers said that the main reason the lawyers are showboating is for the media coverage. I told him that might work against them because the media in this room is losing interest. Like I said in the comments, about half of them have left because they were worn down by the bullshit. My sense is that the media will be less interested if this is the boring crap the media will have to sit through at the trial. But, then I’m no journalist, or a lawyer for that matter, so what do I know?

Our friend and 9/11 Families for a Safe and Strong America blogger Sgt. Tim Sumner also watched the proceedings and tweeted:

KSM et al looked like the murdering scumbag they are. Disrupted court several times. But their lawyers were less well behaved.